Remote Carjacking

Hackers remotely carjacked and took over a Cherokee’s control via wifi and drive it into the ditch.

21:23 26 July 2015

Hackers successfully carjacked a Jeep remotely by taking over its control via a wifi.

 

The two mean used a laptop and a mobile phone to control the Cherokee model as it drove at 70mph along the motorway; they turned off the engine, slammed on the brakes, and ramped its wind-screen wipers to maximum speed before driving it into the ditch.

 

The video posted by WIRED journalist Andy Greenberg shows him cede control of the vehicle while driving through St Louis, Missouri.

Greenbery wrote: “Though I hadn’t touched the dashboard, the vents in the Jeep Cherokee started blasting cold air at the maximum setting, chilling the sweat on my back through the in-seat climate control system.

 

“Next the radio switched to the local hip-hop station and began blaring Skee-lo at full volume. I spun the control knob left and hit the power button, to no avail. Then the windshield wipers turned on, and wiper fluid blurred the glass.

 

“As I tried to cope with all this, a picture of the two hackers performing these stunts appeared on the car’s digital display … wearing their trademark track suits. A nice touch, I thought.”

 

The video shows the pair – Charlie Miller and Chris Valasek, both security experts took over the Jeep. They said they accessed the vehicle’s on-board controls via its wireless connection called Uconnect, which is used by 470,000 cars made by Fiat Chrysler, SUVs, and trucks.